Mother or child
Sir: Stephen Glover (Media studies, 17 August) quotes Dr Scarisbrick's position, which he 'takes to be' the orthodox Catholic one, that abortion is permissible where the mother's life is at risk. He com- ments, [once you] . .. admit the validity of some abortions you are on the road to admitting the validity of many'.
His conclusion is sound but his premise false. Either Dr Scarisbrick has been mis- quoted or he is here unorthodox. The Church's teaching is unequivocal: you may never judge between the relative worth of two lives. A doctor must strive to save both. In human eyes a good mother with a large family may seem of greater merit than an unseen, unborn child, but in God's eyes they are of equal value. He, unlike us, is outside time.
Your older readers may remember that, back in the Fifties, a debate on this raged in the press for several weeks under the above heading. Most of the argument was emo- tional, the C of E having almost as many voices as members. The voice of the Catholic Church stood out in sharp con- trast; calm, good-humoured and reasoned.
For many of us in our twenties this was the first time we had heard that ancient voice and it helped some of us, including your correspondent, on our way to Rome. If its teaching really has changed then I suppose I should reconsider my position but where would I go?
D.KD. Foster
Beech House, Shifnal, Shropshire
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